Five months after my appendectomy (and four and a half months after passing out and spraining/tearing/breaking my ankle and foot), I'm still winging it in recovery. So are my doctors.
Here's a quick rundown on them;
Primary- the surgeon passed me off to her after he cleared me almost two weeks later; needless to say, she was shocked when I came in for my check up, since she never got any reports. She sent me in for x-rays on my foot (ER only did ankle), scheduled me with the podiatrist, told me to check in with ortho when I saw him next, told me wait longer on sports, and put me on the path of probiotics to help with getting my stomach back on track. At my next check up, she was still worried about my stomach and I insisted that I just needed sports.. she suggested swimming, but I had been told by the podiatrist that I couldn't do that; and that was when she told me I didn't have to listen to everything they said. Since I was doing better than last time, but progress was so slow, she told me try things and see what I could do.
Podiatrist- poor man wasn't ready for me. He was amazing with my foot/ankle, but he didn't quite understand that I couldn't "take a break" from the wheelchair and obviously hasn't treated athletes. At the first visit, he left me in the boot and said the plan was to wait and see how it healed on its own first.. he also said no to swimming. At the second visit, he decided on an MRI and now decided I could try swimming (after I said, once again, that I don't kick).
Ortho- he feels we're at ropes end and wants me to go to physical therapy for my leg, with someone that will report her observations to him and hopefully give him a place to start. So I asked about going to therapy with my foot in a boot.. he took a quick look and listened to quick report and said he wasn't worried about it; he agreed with me that the sprain was good, he agreed with the podiatrist that the bone chip isn't a worry, and he said the torn ligaments just need support and more time, so that probably wouldn't interfere with therapy since movement of the hip is highest on the list.
With a pass to try things from the two doctors that have known me for over a year, I got myself a brace instead of the boot (fun fact: there is no way to sit comfortably in a wheelchair with a boot) and headed into the world.
So I started running a little in October (with just my arms and never more than a few miles), archery in November (a week or two before I was supposed to), and swimming in December. I've tried lacrosse a couple times, but rain and schedules has hampered that. More recently, I started running more and getting more of my upper body into it, then a little over a week ago I got back into sitting volleyball.
Due to my complicated recovery and none of us really knowing what to do here, getting moving again has been frustrating. I'm climbing back up from rock bottom and feel like the only thing I really retained was knowledge; my strength and endurance fell to zero. Both are coming back as slowly as my stomach. My shoulder was inactive long enough to go to hell, and is now angry at getting active again. It feels like it's finally getting back into it.
For the month of February, I've joined the Taji100 Challenge, forcing me to get in the miles. I've done okay so far, but it's obvious my strength is lacking.. I have no compensation for inclines and head winds, and it feels like I'm running with a flat tire more often than not. I'm getting farther though! And slightly faster each week! Yesterday I ran Brazen Razing's Bay Breeze 5K, my first race since adding in the rest of my upper body. It was hard, no doubt about it.. I'm glad I asked for a bit more of a cushion than usual because it got me farther out by the time the runners caught me. And I had a bigger concentration of people on their way out as I came back in, with a lot of them cheering me on. Some could tell I was having trouble and told me to dig deep. It really helped get me into the finish and I was definitely tired at the end. The next race is in a couple weeks and I'm interested to see how I do there.
at the start of the 5K, with lots of cheering!
Sooooo... then I went to play sitting volleyball in the afternoon. I'm getting my serve and hits back, but I'm afraid to set (and overthinking it) because I'm having a hell of a time sitting on my own. I already had trouble before because of my hip and lower back, but now my abdomen is still regaining strength. Luckily I'm far too stubborn to give up and I don't mind taking a fall. On a bright point, I joked after taking a hard fall onto my shoulder that it probably knocked my shoulder back into place... today I'm starting to think it wasn't a joke. I'm sore from racing then playing, but the shoulder impingement seems to be gone and my neck isn't as stiff anymore. I took today to rest, but I'm looking forward to see what kind of difference this makes.
sitting volleyball with these lovely ladies!
These random improvements are great, but I'll be happy to when I get something a bit more predictable. Something more tangible, where I'm able to keep improving on it rather than hoping for the next one. I've spent way too long in the frustrated/bitter/cussing part of recovery... I'm holding to the fact that I'm even moving again and having some fun in the process.
